


Self-Actualization

by way2manylegs



Category: DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 15:18:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7273363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/way2manylegs/pseuds/way2manylegs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newbie hero Flash tries to get a handle on his powers, his new double life, and the ever present Green Lantern. Central City Citizen, eat your heart out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place a year or so after Barry wakes up with his powers and maybe a few weeks or months after his and Hal's first meeting per Flash annual 02.

Barry woke up aware of two things: the first being that his window, which he had locked the night before, was wide open, and the second being that he was _starving_. That word was unfortunately less hyperbole than it used to be so when Barry rolled out of bed and onto his feet his stomach was the only thing on his mind. It was the first - of no doubt many - mistakes he'd make that day.

"You sleep like the dead."

Barry stumbled and nearly brained himself on the corner of his dresser. Green Lantern watched him from the doorway, looking utterly at ease in Barry's bedroom. 

"Lantern?"

"Ah," Green Lantern said. He wiggled his fingers and flared a bright green light. The uniform and mask faded away, leaving behind a handsome tanned face and a body clad in jeans, a wrinkled black shirt, and a heavy brown jacket. "It's Hal, remember? Hal Jordan." The idea of keeping their acquaintanceship? working relationship? strictly professional rubbed Lantern - no, Hal - all wrong. Apparently. He'd spoken loudly and at great length about it at Barry whether Barry wanted to hear it or not and usually while someone was trying to kill him. _We've saved each others asses_ he would say, _I think you've earned the right to call me Hal_. Like Barry even _wanted_ to know the guy's name.

"Right," Barry agreed. "Hal. I don't suppose you need something?" His mother had been dead a long time but telling a guest - even an uninvited one - to get the hell out still felt impossible, like she'd appear out of nowhere to knock him upside the head for not being hospitable enough, but he must have at least sounded as irritated as he felt because Hal grinned like he was in on the joke.

"Company," Hal said. "I brought breakfast. You know, to make up for last time."

"For setting me on fire?"

"No for--was that last time? I meant the whole newspaper thing."

Barry froze where he'd been fumbling through a drawer looking for his old college sweatshirt. "Newspaper thing?"

The separation between Hal and the Green Lantern had never been so vivid as it was in that moment. Hal's entire body appeared to curl in on itself like a kicked dog, and the grin became a grimace covered in the thinest veneer of good humor. "You... haven't seen today's paper."

"No."

"Don't suppose you've been on facebook either."

"I literally just woke up, Hal." Barry slammed the dresser drawer. " _What_ newspaper thing?"

Hal took a step into the room, his hands held up. "Okay. Right. So remember how last night you totally kicked Boomerang's ass?"

Well, yes, he had done that. Had stuck him in a prison cell, too. "So?"

"So....he broke out, you know? Like right after you left."

Wouldn't have been the first time. The CCPD was ill equiped to handle people like Boomerang. "Is that so?" But a chill went down Barry's spine. "And you know about this....how?"

Forget about a kicked dog. Hal looked like he was expecting Barry's fist in his face, like, yesterday. "I just wanted to help you out. You know. Do the right thing."

Barry didn't need to hear the rest. He swept out of the room at top speed, Hal frozen behind him midway through his explanation. In a matter of seconds Barry got the paper from the mail slot on the ground floor of his apartment complex and was back in his kitchen, staring in blank horror at the front page.

DREAM TEAM OR NIGHTMARE? FLASH AND GREEN LANTERN CAUSE MILLIONS IN DAMAGES

Barry dropped the paper. Hal was behind him, lingering between the kitchen and living room. Food was spread across the table, but Barry's appetite was gone. "What did you do?" He didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to.

"I might have gotten carried away."

"Might?" Ah, anger, there it was. "Hal, this city is already terrified of me! I'd just gotten past the point of being considered a public menace, and now--now this!" Barry snatched the paper up again and gave it a shake. "This is why I told you not to come unless I asked!"

"Hey, no, you said you _would_ call me if you needed me. You didn't say a damn thing about keeping out of your city!" Hal raked a hand through his hair. "Look, I get it, I fucked up, but--"

"You think?"

"--but what's the point in not working together? Every time I show up, you try to brush me off--"

"Because everything you touch turns into a disaster," Barry snapped out. But that anger he'd been clutching withered away just as fast. Hal looked miserable. Damn it. Barry sighed. Dropping the paper, he picked up one of the donuts. "We need a system, Hal."

And just like that, Hal came to life again. "A system?"

"You can't just show up and do whatever you want. If I need you, I'll call you. You do the same. If we don't talk, this won't work."

"Talk," Hal repeated. "Outside of uniform. Right? Like I've been _saying_?"

"Keep digging that hole, Jordan," Barry said around a mouthful of donut, but he didn't sound as firm as he wanted. Hal was back to grinning, standing shoulder to shoulder with Barry like they'd been working together for years. Barry didn't realize it, but he'd already lost. Give Hal Jordan an inch, and he'd take a damn mile.

***

The thing was, once Barry let Hal in, the guy just wouldn't leave. Oh, he'd go home, wherever that was, but he kept coming back. Weather Wizard attacks? Barry gets a text from Hal five seconds before Green Lantern shows up. Barry's sitting at home, enjoying a night off? Hal calls and says he was in the neighborhood.

Barry didn't know _what_ to think.

"Focus, focus," he muttered, rubbing at his eyes. It was half past eight, and the station was quiet. Barry was stuck behind a mountain of paperwork that never seemed to get any smaller. He was twenty four, barely out of school and working a lab job he wasn't sure he was qualified for, and had even less of a social life than he did in college. His idea of an exciting night was watching Jeopardy with Hal laughing at him the entire time. He felt so _tired_. The moment he got off work, he'd probably get caught up working as the Flash. Even with the next four days off, he couldn't imagine getting any sleep.

Another file done. He set it aside, then heard the _ding_ alerting him to a new email. He clicked it and saw FLASH TASK FORCE in bold red letters at the top.

Well, hell.

Another call to action. Barry's stomach turned. The CCPD made it clear in every way they could that Flash wasn't welcomed. And maybe it wasn't worth it. Maybe Flash wasn't worth it. Maybe--

Another chirp, this one from his phone. Barry unlocked the screen and saw Hal's name at the top next to the words _wanna get out of the boonies for a while?_

"I can't leave just like that!" Barry shook his head. He could ignore the message, but knowing Hal, he'd just... show up. So he should probably just say no.

_you can always run back if something comes up_

Well. He wasn't wrong. Barry got up and headed to the break room. If the captain caught him on the phone at his desk, he'd give Barry hell.

Hal picked up on the first ring. "Got my message? I'm not taking no for an answer."

"That's kind of a theme in your life, isn't it?"

Hal laughed. It was the kind of sound that Barry couldn't help but feel warmed by. "Sounds about right. So? You in? You, me, whatever babes we can find..."

"Babes? Seriously, Hal?"

"Live a little, _Batholomew_."

"I suspect you do enough living for the both of us, _Harold_." Barry didn't bother pretending he wasn't going to go. Sometimes it seemed like Hal could talk him 'round to doing anything. The more distance between them, the less apt Barry was to give in, but something about Hal turned Barry into a total sheep. Whether Barry should have been disappointed in himself or if that was just a part of friendship, he couldn't say. Though they hadn't known each other long, there was a depth to their friendship Barry hadn't experienced with anyone else. "Whatever, let's do it. I'll go. When do you want me?"

"Whenever. Just get your ass here."

"Tomorrow," Barry decided. "You can actually buy _me_ lunch." Maybe it would even be relaxing, getting out of Central for a while. Barry could leave behind the bad press, the stress of work, and let Hal talk him into drinking too much and talking to women he'd never have a chance with. What could go wrong?


	2. Chapter 2

"I can't do it."

"You're just not trying hard enough," Hal insisted. He slid his drink across the table, an alarming blue mix in a short squat glass. "Here, have mine."

"Drinking more isn't going to help. I mean, it makes sense, considering my, uh, recent changes. I guess my body must metabolize at such a--" Barry stopped. "I can't believe it's taken me this long to put that together."

"Not a drinker?" Hal pulled the blue drink back across the table and tossed half of it back in one gulp. 

"Never was." Barry shrugged. The corner booth Hal scored for them felt too hot in the packed night club, the music too loud, and Barry could feel sweat gathering at the back of his neck, sticking to the collar of his shirt. "I'm a homebody."

"Tell me something I don't know." But Hal didn't sound put out. They'd been there an hour and Hal hadn't tried to ditch him like Barry expected, which just made Barry feel like an ass. Hal was a good guy, for all his flaws, and he deserved better than Barry thinking he'd ditch him for the first woman who looked his way. That kind of negativity was really a reflection on Barry more than it was on Hal, so--

Barry frowned. He snatched Hal's drink and downed the rest of it, coughing at the burn. When he slammed down the glass, Hal actually cheered. "Nice," he said, "good fighting spirit. Kind of wasted on a mixed drink, but you'll get there."

"You drink that for the _taste_?"

"No, I drink it because it's _blue_ ," and Barry honestly couldn't tell if Hal was being sarcastic or not.

They wasted another half an hour, the tab creeping higher as Barry fought a losing battle against his metabolism. Hal, rather than being disappointed, seemed to take Barry's condition as a challenge. He mentioned something about alien liquor next time he was off world, and Barry smiled and nodded and vowed to _never_ drink anything Hal handed to him unmarked. But as entertaining as Hal might have found it, neither of them were rich. They split the bill and wandered out into the dry heat of a summer Coast City night. Hal had enough of a buzz that everything made him laugh, and Barry trailed a step behind him, just watching.

"So you really work two jobs?"

"I mean, I guess."

"You'e a cop _and_ a cape," Hal said. He slung an arm over Barry's shoulder, their heads knocking together. Barry's skin prickled at the contact. "Don't you ever get tired?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" Barry didn't shrug Hal off. "And you're the same."

"Nah, not like you. I don't," Hal waved a hand, a vague gesture, "patrol, do the whole 'stop the purse-snatcher' thing. I work on a bigger scale."

"Outer space purse snatchers?"

"Ha ha," Hal's arm drifted off Barry's shoulders. "I save planets! When I'm here, I'm on leave. I get to turn off. You never need to?"

Need to? Barry couldn't say one way or the other. Perhaps he _did_ need to leave some breathing room between CSI Barry Allen and the Flash, but his mind couldn't stand a gap. Stillness wasn't a possibility, not with his every thought running a thousand miles a minute, the new energy coursing through his body pushing him to move, move, move. Rather than wishing for a break, Barry was struck by the idea that he was scared to stand still.

But the night was so nice and Hal's company was a balm on his troubled mind. Barry pushed onward. "Who needs a break? If I took time off, there'd be no one to pick up after you!"

"Maybe I should try it."

"Try it?"

"The whole patrolling hero thing. Yeah," Hal nodded like he'd already made up his mind. "Yeah, let's do it."

"Right _now_?"

Hal made a fist, his ring flashing. "Right now."

They ducked into an alley. Barry accidentally moved faster than he meant and practically squashed himself against Hal, getting a good whiff of the liquor on his breath. He took a step back but didn't, couldn't, look away when Hal's uniform appeared out of thin air. Hal gave him a look after a few beats, like _Barry, what the hell_ , and that kicked his ass into gear. He tapped his own ring, changing faster than Hal's eyes could perceive.

"Good to see you again, Flash," Hal - no, Lantern said with a cheeky salute. "Ready to catch some purse snatchers?"

"I honestly doubt crime in Coast City is limited to--"

"Blah, blah, I know, let's just _go_."

Despite the weeks of Green Lantern piggybacking onto every crisis in Central City he heard about, he and Flash had never actually worked together. Fought together, sure, but running patrol was different. Flash slowed himself down so Lantern could fly at his speed, just over his shoulder, and they moved through the downtown area as a unit. With no crisis at hand, the edge Flash usually felt working with Lantern smoothed out, and the effortless way they worked together was actually, dare he say it, _fun_. Watching Lantern dangle a would-be thief upside down with a giant green hand made him laugh. There was no Flash task force, and the only terrified faces he saw belonged to criminals. Coast City was remarkably unaware of its hero, something Flash couldn't help but be jealous of.

"Well, that was relaxing," Lantern said after they dropped another subdued criminal off at the nearest precinct. "Not much of a challenge, but there's just something satisfying about cutting those assholes off at the knee."

"We're improving your city, Lantern. Of course it's satisfying."

"Boy scout," Lantern accused.

The good mood between them remained even after they stole out of sight and changed out of their uniforms. It was late, and Barry's stomach gurgled with every step he took.

"You're gonna waste away if I don't feed you, aren't you?"

Barry's face burned. "No, don't worry about it. I'm just," another loud gurgle, "not... used to it." He winced. His metabolism was the trickiest part of his abilities, and as time passed, he only seemed to get hungrier faster. He was _always_ hungry.

Hal's arm found its way across Barry's shoulders again, and he tugged Barry closer. "No worries, man, I'll take care of you. There's a gas station on the way to my place. I'll grab us some food."

Gas station food actually sounded appealing, so Barry knew he was beyond usual hunger. "Thanks."

In its defense, the small corner store looked clean and well lit. Barry stood outside while Hal ran in, watching Hal weave up and down the aisles, loading up a little red basket. They'd have to haul home the bags, but Barry figured it would be worth it not to pass out on the walk to Hal's place. He felt like he could eat _anything_.

A click sounded behind him, familiar in a way he couldn't place. Barry turned around and was greeted by the barrel of a gun.

"Cash," the man behind it said. He waved the gun a few times. "Everything you've got. Hurry it up!"

Barry honestly couldn't believe his luck. Someone was actually trying to mug him. He'd spent the last three hours trying to clean up the city and the one rat he missed was back to bite him in the ass. "I don't have my wallet," he said, and he really didn't. He had his debit card, but that wouldn't do the guy any good. Barry held his hands up. "Let's talk about this," he tried. "You don't need to do this. Let me help you."

The mugger looked incredulous. Barry didn't blame him.

"It's your money or your--"

Whatever the alternative, Barry didn't get a chance to hear it. Hal's fist slammed into the guy's jaw, sending him careening into the wall of the corner store. "Seriously?" Hal asked. He looked at the mugger, then Barry. " _Seriously_?"

Barry shrugged.

The downside of stopping a mugger as civilians meant they had to actually wait for the cops to come to them. It wasn't an emergency, so they wasted another hour standing by the unconscious mugger, eating food from the bags Hal carried out of the store. Still, Barry felt lighter than he had in weeks. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Hal, not an inch between them.

That lightness followed Barry back to Hal's apartment. Not even the threat of watching football could kill his good mood. They camped out on Hal's sofa, a green monstrosity straight out of the seventies, and polished off the rest of the food. Barry listened to Hal yell at the television and wondered why he'd ever thought Hal's company was a bad idea.

Barry dozed on and off, the light of the television screen casting a dim glow over the room, the low murmur of an old football game as good as a lullaby for how quickly it sent him under. A sudden jump in the volume startled him awake as the game gave way to a commercial, and Barry realized his cheek was smashed against Hal's shoulder. When he sat up, he left behind a damp patch where he'd drooled. It was a testament to the late hour that he didn't feel mortified. Hal stirred as well, turning his head toward Barry.

"Did we win?" His voice, rough with sleep, sent a shock of warmth low in Barry's stomach. He couldn't answer Hal's question. They stared at one another in silence.

Barry didn't realize he was hard until he felt Hal's hand on his thigh, so hot he swore it could have burned him through his clothes.

He put his hand over Hal's and pulled it further up his leg.

They were kissing on Hal's couch, messy and intense, Hal's hand squeezing Barry's cock through his sweat pants. Barry could feel how wet he was, knew if he let it happen Hal could get him off that easy, just touching him through his clothes. But he wanted more, wanted Hal's mouth on him, wanted to feel his bare skin. He wanted Hal's cock in his mouth with a sudden desperation that caught him off guard.

Barry lifted his hips and Hal tugged his pants down, sliding off the couch and down to his knees.

"Fuck my mouth," Hal said, so close to Barry's dick the heat of his breath tickled the skin, lighting up every square inch of Barry's body, seizing him like a live wire he couldn't let go of.

Barry's head snapped back, hitting the top of the couch, his hips jerking up into the wet heat of Hal's mouth. Hal grabbed his hands and brought them to his hair.

"Come on," Hal goaded him, and Barry couldn't get words out, followed Hal's command without a second's space. He dug his fingers in, tugging Hal's hair, pulling him onto his cock.

"What are--fuck," Barry panted, the air punched out of his lungs. He wanted to ask _what are we doing?_ but he couldn't focus on anything but Hal, the sight of his head bobbing over his lap, the feel of his mouth, his hair in Barry's hands. Barry couldn't even warn him, his entire body jerking with the force of his orgasm. Hal just worked his cock harder, deeper, swallowing around him, his come.

When Hal pulled off, his voice was hoarse: "God, you taste good."

Barry tugged his hair again and watched Hal's eyelashes flutter. "Come on, get up here," he wanted Hal closer. Barry's cock was softening but the urgency was still there. He wanted Hal.

And Hal wasn't going to argue. He scrambled back up and they sprawled across the couch together, their legs too long and hanging over the arms. Barry held himself over Hal and worked their mouths together again, then trailed his lips over the cut of Hal's jaw, the hollow of his neck. He pushed his hand into Hal's pant and grabbed his cock, tugging at the hard length of it, feeling how much Hal had leaked. He was wet for Barry.

"I didn't know," Barry heard himself say, pressing the words into the curve of Hal's neck. "God, I had no idea--"

"Harder," Hal said, "come on, your hand, I need--" The words were lost in a low groan. Hal's hips bucked up, and Barry worked him through it, over the edge, feeling Hal's come slick his hand. Barry held himself up, just breathing against the pounding of his heart, until Hal winced. "I should go clean up." There was something off in his voice.

Barry sat back. He couldn't get enough air. "Guess so." He watched Hal escape to the bathroom, knowing that's exactly what it was - an escape. He couldn't speak into the vacuum that suddenly sprang up between them. _I don't regret it_ , he wanted to say. Or even _we could pretend it never happened_. Hal didn't look him in the eye, and when he returned from the bathroom, it was only to hand him a blanket and a pillow.

"It's like five in the morning," Hal said. "Get some sleep."

"Right." Barry felt hollow. He nodded anyway. "See you in the morning."

"Sure," Hal said. Then he closed the bedroom door.

***

Barry tossed and turned. He slept in the smell of his and Hal's sex. When he woke up, Hal was gone, a note left on the table. _Got called in to work_ , it said. _I'll call in a few days_. Barry sank into one of the mismatched chairs circling the table and dropped his head into his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still getting used to writing these two so concrit is always appreciated!!! I'm on tumblr as halandbarry


End file.
